Pick Up Something Sweet…
at the Seven Days Singles Party presented by Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum. Thursday, February 11, 6:30-9:30 p.m., 21+, Free! Three Needs Brewery & Taproom, 185 Pearl St., Burlington Music and dancing with DJ Craig Mitchell Cocktails featuring Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum Speed dating, foosball and pool Prizes & giveaways Register for Speed Dating: Fill out…
Obituary: Charles Arthur Gagnon, 1934-2016, The Village, FL/Milton, VT
Charles Arthur Gagnon, 81, passed away peacefully at his home in Florida. He was born on July 30, 1934 in Burlington, VT to Joseph and Mary (Brown) Gagnon. He grew up in Burlington with his eight brothers and sisters. He was raised amongst a strong catholic faith with his brother Father John Gagnon, his brother…
Obituary: Joyce L. (Desso) Costello, 1937-2016
Joyce L. (Desso) Costello, 78, passed away peacefully on January 22, 2016. She was born at home in Winooski on September 25, 1937 to the late Wilfred and Mildred (Viens) Desso. She attended Winooski High School. Joyce married Irving P. Costello on October 4, 1974. She was employed for many years by Saga at Trinity…
A Yoga Enthusiast Turns Competitor
Alexandra Sturges slides into a split and stretches her taut, tattooed arms overhead. Muscles ripple on her upper back. Her coach, Marla Ceppetelli, nods in approval as Sturges leans forward over her front leg and rests there comfortably, as graceful and flexible as an elite gymnast. But she isn’t one. The 26-year-old Burlington woman is…
A Q&A With Cracker’s Johnny Hickman
On their latest record, Cracker pulled a fast one. For one thing, that record is actually two records, a double album called Berkeley to Bakersfield. For another, the band, which has built a 20-plus-year career fusing country, punk and Brit pop, made a conscious effort to tease apart its formative influences into two distinctly different-sounding…
WTF: What Happened to Burlington’s Pay Phones?
A reader emailed recently with a complaint about the Queen City: He couldn’t find a single pay phone in its precincts. A millennial might ask, why would Burlington still have pay phones? Given the ubiquity of cellphones, wouldn’t telecommunications companies be crazy to continue operating public booths known primarily for attracting graffiti and prank calls?…
Jean-Luc Matecat and Alice & the Magician Present ‘Scented Dinner’
This Sunday, January 24, ArtsRiot will team up with chef Jean-Luc Matecat and Alice & the Magician cofounders Sam and Aaron Wisniewski to host a four-course “scented dinner” with optional cocktail pairings. The meal will mark Matecat’s first appearance since leaving Montpelier’s La Puerta Negra last fall. True to form, he’s putting Vermont meats and…
Soundbites: An Early Look at Waking Windows 6
Wakeup Call It’s late January, which traditionally means things are kind of slow on the local music scene. Though the typical winter doldrums haven’t been quite as dire in recent years as they once were, the period from New Year’s Eve to, oh, Saint Patrick’s Day is still relatively quiet. That’s partly because the frozen…
Buyer Would Restrict Public Access Along the Bolton Potholes
One of Chittenden County’s most popular and dangerous swimming holes could be much more difficult to dive into next summer. Bolton resident and former selectboard member David Parot has signed a contract to purchase 3.1 acres of land on the west side of the Bolton Potholes, including the most popular path to the waterfall and…
A Food Writer Takes on the ‘Taco Cleanse’
Visit Phoenix Books in Burlington, and you’ll find an entire display devoted to tacos. Taco books, taco socks — tacos, tacos, tacos. The display was inspired by a new book called The Taco Cleanse: The Tortilla-Based Diet Proven To Change Your Life, which has been selling strong since it came out last month. Written by…
Will They or Won’t They? Decision Nears on Legalizing Marijuana
Bill Lofy went before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Montpelier last Wednesday to make a case for why it’s a good idea to tax and regulate — rather than prohibit — recreational marijuana. “Didn’t you used to be somebody?” committee chair Dick Sears (D-Bennington) asked him jokingly. Lofy did. He served as Gov. Peter Shumlin’s…
Drunk & In the Woods, Coals & Fire
(Self-released, digital download) Drunk & In the Woods are a Johnson-based sextet, led by front man and mandolinist Henry Clark. While Clark and five others form the core of the band, no fewer than 18 musicians appear on the group’s debut, Coals & Fire. Appearing in similar quantity are the myriad styles that make up…
Vermont Art Therapists Push for Licensure
Art therapy may sound like the most fun subdivision of the mental health profession, but to some, it’s also the most baffling. It’s pretty much what it sounds like: using creative expression in a therapeutic setting to understand and address a client’s mental and emotional experiences and needs. While art therapists do practice in Vermont,…
Iron Eyes Cody, Goodness All Good Saints Have Died
(Future Fields, digital download) Attempting to convey personal stories through the eyes and actions of another can be a risky endeavor for a songwriter. Artists can risk transforming what should be a narrative driven by personal emotions and experiences into a glorified work of musical fiction. This risk pays off for Evan Allis and the…
Stuff as Dreams Are Made on: Vermont Shakespeare Moves Ahead
The Vermont Shakespeare Company is no more. But fans of the 10-year-old ensemble need not fret. It has simply changed its name to Vermont Shakespeare Festival. So, what’s in a name? Founders (and spouses) Jena Necrason and John Nagle have had their eyes on the goal of creating “a nationally recognized Shakespeare festival in Vermont”…
![Ralph’s Models in Bottles [SIV428]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/episode428.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Ralph’s Models in Bottles [SIV428]
1/14/16: 88-year-old Ralph Preston has been building model ships in bottles since the tender age of eight. After joining the Navy in WWII, Ralph sailed on real vessels and later spent 30 years teaching math at Saint Michael’s College. Over his lifetime, Ralph has produced about 15 highly intricate miniatures including boats and planes. Eva…
Art From the Heart Hospital Program for Adults
For more than 20 years, Burlington City Arts has brought Art From the Heart to young patients at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Now, you might say, the popular art-making enterprise has grown up. With the help of a three-year grant from the Fountain Fund via the Vermont Community Foundation, Art From the Heart…
Art Review: Painter Joseph Salerno’s Deep Woods
Joseph Salerno’s solo exhibit at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, “Dark Woods,” consists of 101 small paintings of tree trunks. These 6-by-9-inch works are arranged in a line around the room, in the order Salerno painted them during the 18-month project. Some depict three or, in rare cases, four trunks, but most have one…
Indoor Climbing Gyms Reach New Heights
It’s Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m., and a hot date is wrapping up in the South End of Burlington. Nope, it didn’t involve a sweaty, swinging night at Club Metronome, or even live music. But there was some swinging, some sweating, some ropes and a few tunes. Tom LaBarge, 51, and Nancy Smith, 46, are…
Are There Side Effects of Giving Daily Hand Jobs?
Dear Athena, Are there side effects to giving a hand job every day? Thank you, Handy Dear Handy, First, let me say this: The recipient of these regularly scheduled pleasure sessions is a pretty lucky guy! Who wouldn’t want some of that action on a daily basis? I’m hoping these routine hand jobs are something…
Wellness Issue
It’s still January, and we haven’t yet forgotten New Year’s resolutions to eat less, exercise more, etc. At least no one’s bringing holiday cookies to the office anymore. In this issue we meet a “hot yoga” competitor and get a grip at newly popular climbing gyms. A reporter who has MS shares her highs and…
Free Will Astrology (1/20/16)
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The birds known as mound-builders are born more mature than other species. As soon as they peck themselves out of their eggs, they are well coordinated, vigorous enough to hunt and capable of flight. Right now I see a resemblance between them and many of you Aquarians. As soon as you…
Political Revolution: Bernie Sanders’ Wild Ride
Standing before an adoring crowd of Vermonters last May on the shores of Lake Champlain, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) made a vow few thought he could keep. “We’re going to build a movement of millions of Americans who are prepared to stand up and fight back,” he pledged as a warm sun hovered over the…
Training Like a Ninja Warrior
Originally published October 1, 2014 Who wouldn’t want to be a ninja warrior? That’s the question that has me leaping through a mini-obstacle course of kid-size gymnastic equipment —alphabet-themed carpet squares, metal pirouette bars — toward a padded ramp. There, coach Noah Labow wants me to execute a “misty” roll, a side-spinning front flip. Following…
Letters to the Editor (1/20/16)
Plump on Trump I would like to thank you for that wonderful likeness of me that graced the cover of your fine newspaper [“Trump Roast,” January 13]. Ronald J. Plump Burlington Plump is an Elvis impersonator and self-described “aerobics instructor to the stars.” Character Reference I’ve always admired Sandra Bernhard for her turn as openly…
State of Surveillance: Digital-Age Bill Would Foster Privacy
Shortly after 2 a.m. on December 27, Obafemi Adedapo was shot on the sidewalk at 187 Church Street after an argument that started at the nearby Zen Lounge, police say. Burlington police officers a block away rushed over and performed CPR on the 28-year-old New York City man. A crowd began to form. Meanwhile, a…
A Journalist and MS Patient Tries Medical Marijuana
It’s not easy to get inside the Champlain Valley Dispensary, one of Vermont’s four state-licensed medical marijuana purveyors. First, you have to find it. The location doesn’t appear on Google Maps, and it’s not on the CVD website. The phone number isn’t listed anywhere, either. Unless someone gives it to you, you can’t call for…
Room
There’s no getting around it. Room’s distinctive two-act structure and the indisputable fact that its second half is every bit as significant as the first leave me no choice but to warn that there will be spoilers. That’s the only way to do this remarkable film justice. To proceed otherwise would be as pointless as…
A Vermont Surgeon Implants Custom 3D Knees
At 10:27 a.m. in an operating room at Copley Hospital in Morrisville, Dr. Bryan Huber begins surgery by drawing a thick purple line down the leg of his sedated patient. After checking to make sure the tourniquet is cinched around the patient’s thigh, Huber cuts a deep incision along the line, opening her flesh like…
Nutritional Therapist Training Begins in Burlington
Burlington is home to a number of nutrition coaches and diet-focused health practitioners. And this winter, the Queen City will welcome a new nutritional therapist certificate program based on the teachings of holistic health pioneers Weston A. Price and Francis M. Pottenger Jr. Price and Pottenger — both medical doctors practicing in the mid 20th century…
Former Addicts Write for Recovery
This past Christmas, Jack Gower, 28, celebrated one year of sobriety. In Vermont, writing is helping the Florida transplant stay that way. “Having a creative outlet is crucial for recovery,” he says. Gower found his outlet with Writers for Recovery at Burlington’s Turning Point Center. His dad, John, is a workshop participant, too, and introduced…
Carol
“I felt odd and swimmy in the head, near to fainting, yet at the same time uplifted, as if I had seen a vision.” This is how Patricia Highsmith described the 1948 encounter that inspired her pioneering lesbian novel The Price of Salt. The novelist (who would soon become famous for Strangers on a Train)…
Turning a Barn Into a Brewery in the Northeast Kingdom
Can you turn a barn into a brewery? Two couples in Danville are doing just that. The McMullens, Jeremy and Erin, have the rustic red 1840s barn. The McAlenneys, Peter and Judi, have the brewing experience; Peter scored in the top 50 in last year’s Make the Cut Homebrew Challenge. “I’ve really started to brew…
Sour Power: Probiotics Surge in Popularity
In October 2001 the World Health Organization convened a group of physicians and scientists. Their mission: to lay groundwork that would define and stimulate the study of probiotics, or “friendly” bacteria presumed to aid in digestion and confer untold other health benefits to consumers. The WHO hoped that continued study could prove these benefits so…
